Articles of footwear



May 5, 1970 J. TUSA ETAL ARTICLES OF FOOTWEAR Filed March 5, 1969 INVENT OR Job Al 7&6'4 15505 C. LAWQE/VCE I Warm ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,509,647 ARTICLES 0F FOOTWEAR John Tusa, Hordon on the Hill, and Leslie C. Lawrence, Stanford, Le Hope, England, assignors to Bata Shoe Company, Inc., Belcamp, Md.

Filed Mar. 3, 1969, Ser. No. 803,874 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Mar. 4, 1968, 10,468/ 68 Int. Cl. A43b US. Cl. 362.5 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An article of footwear in which the vamp portion of the upper is provided with means constituting the components of a sundial whereby upon a day when the sun is shining and the article of footwear is positioned in a given orientation with respect to the meridian, the time of the day can be indicated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to articles of footwear of the type in which a compass with its face directed upwardly is mounted in an open-topped recess in the heel portion of the insole of the shoe with the top of the compass being substantially flush with the top of the insole. The compass is preferably carried by a member secured between the insole and the outsole and a displaceable cover such as a flap in a heel seat sock may be provided over the recess.

More specifically, the recess in the heel portion of the insole is a circular hole extending therethrough and the compass is carried by a strip-like shank member which engages the underside of the insole and a heel filler is added. When the outer sole is aifixed to the upper such as by molding, the heel filler is embedded thereby causing the shank member to be secured between the outsole and the insole so that compass is firmly secured into the bottom assem blage of the shoe.

The heel sock which is placed over the insole when the shoe is completed is slotted to provide a flap which normally covers the compass and the flap can be raised to permit the compass whose face is upwardly directed to be readily read.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided an article of footwear having a compass disposed in an opentopped recess in the heel portion of the insole with the vamp portion of the article having markings corresponding to the markings of a sundial and an aperture for receiving a rod or other upright element which functions as the gnomon of the sundial so that on a day when the sun is shining and the footwear article positioned in a given orientation with respect to the meridian, the time is indicated by the shadow cast by the gnomon relative to the markings on the vamp portion.

In one embodiment of the invention, the sandal is prO- vided with markings which are symmetrical respecting the longitudinal axis of the sandal and the axis of the aperture is located on the longitudinal axis of the sandal so that on sunny days and with the rod or the like positioned in an upright position in the aperture, the time will be indicated with reference to the markings on the vamp portion when the sandal is positioned with its longitudinal axis in the meridian.

Further obejcts and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent to persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description and annexed drawings.

3,509,647 Patented May 5, 1970 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a conventional sandal 5 having an upper 5a, outsole 5b, insole 5c and securing means 5d of any suitable and convenient type. The insole 5c is provided with a recess 52 in which is positioned a compass 6 and a heel seat sole (not illustrated) equipped with a fiap for covering the compass 6 is employed. This particular arrangement has been fully described hereinabove in connection with British application No. 30,176.

It will be noted that compass 6 is mounted symmetrically with respect to the longitudinal axis of the sandal 5 and an aperture 7 adapted to receive a short rod or other upright element (not shown) is punched or otherwise formed in vamp portion 3 of the upper. It will be appreciated that the rod or other upright member serves as a gnomon or pointer. In proximity to the compass 6 is located a reference mark for assisting the wearer in placing the sandal in the meridian. The vamp portion 8 is further provided with a plurality of perforations 9 situated symmetrically about the longitudinal axis of the sandal and the aperture 7 and such perforations correspond to the markings of a sundial defined by the perforations and the rod which constitutes the gnomon of the sundial.

On a day when the sun is shining and the sandal is placed with its longitudinal axis in the meridian and the toe portion of the sandal pointing south as indicated by the compass 6 and a rod such as for example a matchstick positioned in an upright manner in the aperture 7, it will be possible for the wearer to ascertain the time by means of the position of the shadow cast by the gnomon on the vamp portion 8 of the sandal.

Of course, if the aperture 7 and the perforations 9 are arranged in a different configuration on the vamp portion of the shoe as regards the longitudinal axis of the sandal,

then it would be necessary to position the sandal in a different orientation with respect to the meridian.

The invention is not to be confined to any strict conformity to the showings in the drawings but changes or modifications may be made therein.

We claim:

1. An article of footwear including an upper, an outsole aflixed to the upper, markings on the vamp portion of the upper corresponding to the markings of a sundial, and means on the vamp portion for receiving an upright member constituting the gnomon of a sundial so that upon a sunny day and with the article placed in a given orientation with respect to the meridian, the time is indicated by the shadow cast by the upright member relative to the markings on the vamp portion.

2. The article of footwear as claimed in claim 1 in which said markings are symmetrical with respect to the longi tudinal axis of the article and said means for receiving an upright member is located on the longitudinal axis of the article.

3. The article of footwear as claimed in claim 2 in which said means on the vamp portion is defined by an aperture.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,035,567 8/1912 Franz 362.5 1,797,309 3/ 1931 Wojciechowski 363 1,909,645 5/1933 Wiesner 36-2.5

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner 

